'Another Place' Installation by Antony Gormley

Another Place is a large-scale installation located in Crosby Beach to the North of Liverpool, by Antony Gormley, a Turner prize winner of 1994.

Sir Antony Gormley, living and working in the United Kingdom, is a modern-day sculptor and artist known for various works across the world. Apart from Another Place, these include Angel of the North in Gateshead and Event Horizon that was exhibited in London, New York and Hong Kong.

Antony Gormley began his career in the 1980s, gaining popularity in 1994 when he was awarded the Turner Prize for his work Field for the British Isles. This included 35.000 terracotta figures between 8 and 26 cm high installed in a single room. He won numerous awards in the subsequent years and was knighted in 2014 for his contribution to the British arts.

Another Place in Crosby Beach is an example of the artist's distinctive style. The work features exactly one hundred cast iron figures, spread out along 3 kilometres of the beach. All of them are facing the sea at a different distance from the waterline, some being in the water. The figures are the replicas of Gormley's body, all identical and numbered individually.

The work was created in 1997, and shown in various places, such as Norway and Belgium coasts, before being permanently installed in Crosby Beach in 2006, surrounded by debates of tourism's impact on the environment and finally accepted by the authorities in 2008.

The work is thought to represent the human connection to nature and, in particular, exploring the relationship of man and the sea. When you arrive at Crosby Beach, the effect instantly shows; you witness the sea and the sky, hear no sounds apart from the natural noises and are surrounded by the silent iron companions that have remained there for years, becoming the natural part of this landscape. Some of them are covered by moss, some by rust after staying too close to the water, and this is the way it should be, this is the way it works. In this way, the 100 iron bodies placed on the beach ten years ago, the most unnatural things, become the part and the actors of the natural course of being.

The artist comments on his work and inspiration in the interview with Liverpool Echo of 2015: "And the original piece was designed in a way as a meditation on emigration and what drove human beings constantly to expand westwards until finally they reached the Californian Pacific. Liverpool had a strong connection both with New York and America at large, and also the Caribbean in terms of the slave trade, but also the history indeed of bodies at sea, quite tragic history."

To get to Crosby Beach, take a Mersey Rail train from Liverpool Central to Waterloo station; the journey takes 15-20 minutes. A return ticket costs £3.70 . You can get to the beach by crossing the Marina Lake park and passing through the dunes at the end. The walk through Another Place location takes up to 2 hours, depending on the pace. Be careful with the tide and the quicksands. Enjoy.